Ellen DeGeneres defends her Usain Bolt tweet some claimed was racist

[Buckeye_Democrat]

261. Those problems need fixed.

I think the communities that are majority African American shouldn't have so many white cops in the first place. It's not that all white cops are racist, but it can't be helpful if there's a suspicion that they are.

I think more emphasis on current injustices would be more persuasive instead of the DeGeneres/Bolt picture, with the main complaint referring to events that aren't very recent.

I saw an episode of Frontline (PBS) titled "Policing the Police" that showed footage of African Americans in Newark, NJ repeatedly being searched simply for walking down a sidewalk and "looking" suspicious. They were basically treated like prisoners! That was far more influential on me than seeing African American protestors blocking a highway or whatever.

I sometimes wonder if African Americans have some incorrect perceptions about white communities too? I saw a complaint about a cop threatening to pull a PoC out of the car because that person refused to roll down the window beyond a crack. Cops in my area would have threatened me the same way if I'd stubbornly refused to roll the window down at a traffic stop.

My father taught me when I first started driving to always have my hands where the police officer can see them during traffic stops. He warned me that I might get shot otherwise. I recently saw a video from an AA professor that strongly implied it was only something that African Americans needed to do. That's not true, at least where I live.

I was pulled over A LOT as a teenager (especially if I had young friends in the car), and I think I was a more careful driver at that age than I am now. I'd be sure to come to a complete stop at an intersection, but a cop would pull me over and claim that I didn't. Then he'd ask what we were doing. Was there any marijuana in the car? That sort of crap. I strongly suspect it happened more frequently to me back then because cops had learned there was a higher probability of "bigger busts" when teenagers were driving.

I currently live in a part of town that's not affluent. It's still mostly white, maybe 80% to 90%. Cops definitely linger around here more than wealthy parts of town. I'm pretty much guaranteed to not see any cop cars if I drive through more affluent areas. Once I drive back through my neighborhood, I'm likely to see three of them parked along curbs in short order. My guess is that they've learned that people in this area are more likely to have drugs, expired licenses, etc.

I think most Americans realize that PoC are more likely to be harassed by cops. If more people saw videos like what were shown in that Frontline episode, they'd probably be more outraged by it. Having zero "cause" to search someone is freaking insane. Link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/policing-the-police/

As for PoC getting shot and killed, I'm also aware of cops killing white people who didn't comply with their orders. Those videos exist too. It's a general problem and I'd like to see more non-lethal ways of subduing people adopted.